Chinese Black Tea (Puerh)

Well, my worst fears have come true. I heard tell about excessively long delays on the Beijing-Ulaanbaatar route from Air China. Sure enough, today I got up before dawn to get to the airport for my 8:30am flight, and then an hour before boarding they “update” the estimated departure time to 7pm!!! Beijing airport does at least offer free wifi (in 5 hour chunks, though I should be able to get another 5 hours after this one expires).

Well before that news totally destroyed my day, back when I was happy and carefree (:P), I stopped at a Costa Coffee in the airport and got a tea and a muffin. I almost got an Earl Grey since I haven’t had one in so long (I guess I have plenty of time to go back and get one now), but I decided that since I was in China I would get the “Chinese Black Tea” on the menu. It was loose leaf and they brewed it in a little glass teapot. I had assumed that the English translation of “black tea” meant hong cha, as it is typically translated in the states, but when I got the tea and took a big whiff, it was clear that actually it literally meant what the Chinese call black tea, which is puerh. There it was, that earthy, woody, hay-ish, barn-ish scent I’ve come to associate with your typical tuocha. They didn’t steep it for super long, so it was not too strong and it was overall a very pleasant cup of tea. Not something I would go back for, but only because I’m not the biggest puerh fan overall, but I did enjoy my cup.